ASMO or POP? Please help me decide

[julsmom]

We are going again at the end of April and our 180 mark is coming up.

We cannot decide whether to do ASMO or POP. Please let me know anything that could help us decide. We have always stayed at POR and have a DD 6.

 

[Minky]

Well, I too love POR, but out of the values I LOVE POP!

I love the whole atmosphere, everything is fun and larger than life! The music everywhere is specific to the decade you are in. The pool bar is great! I actually really liked their food court! They have the best housekeeping IMO. I have never gotten towel animals anywhere else, but got like 20 there. DH loves slushies and they have slushy machines in their foodcourt that you can use to refill your mugs as much as youd like.

The only conceivable downside is that their bus area is out in direct sunlight, so no shade when waiting for busses. We always rent a car so this hasnt been an issue for us.

You will have a great time wherever you decide to stay!
Enjoy!

 

[KikiFan]

I've stayed at both and I absolutely loved POP!! It's a great hotel. The theming is wonderful, the service is great. I really loved it. I will happily stay there anytime we stay at a value.

 

[MidgeD79]

I am also debating on which of those 2 hotels to stay at. There will be 6 of us ( I am the only adult) for at least 10 days in June of '07. The kids really want to stay at Pop, but the kitchenette is very appealing. What are the pros and cons such as pools, buses and food courts?

 

[minnie61650]

Here is a list of differences between the two resorts.

Pop is newer.
Pop was built in 2003.
All Star Movies was built in 1999.
All Star Sports and Music were built in 1994.

All Star Music is undergoing a refurbishment of all of the rooms and is slated to be completed by June 2007.
The Calypso and Jazz buildings (1,2,9, and 10) are slated to be completed by January 1st 2007.

All Star Sports is slated to be refurbished between June and November of 2007.

Pop has a lake. The All Stars do not have a lake.

When staying at the All Stars you use any of the All Stars pools.
The 3 All Stars are within easy walking distance of each other.

The gift shops are separate from the food court at the All Stars.
The gift shop and food court are combined at Pop.

Pop has 2,880 guest rooms. 4 floors in each building.
Each of the All Stars has 1,960 rooms. 3 floors in each building.

Both Pop and the All Star rooms are 260 square feet.

The beds at the All Stars are movable.

the beds at Pop at bolted to the floor.

The far bed at an All Star is closer to wall. And the near bed is not as close to the doorway as it is at Pop

The far bed at Pop is pulled away from the wall more. The near bed is closer to door.
http://allearsnet.com/acc/asmv59.jpg
http://allearsnet.com/acc/popcent56.jpg

For most people that would not make a difference but since I need an ECV
the bed being so near the door at Pop makes it more difficult for me to back my EVC in.

------------------------------------------------------

Some Photos of All Star Movies from allearsnet.com:

Did you know if you count all of the Dalmatians (the icons plus the puppies on the buildings) you will come up with 101 Dalmatians?
Now how cool is that?

---------------------------------------------

That is one of my favorite WDW trivia facts. I love the way Disney pays attention to details!

When staying at the All Stars you can use any of the All Star pools. That means 3 main pools , 3 quiet pools and 3 kiddie pools to chose from.

The All Star Movie Fantasia pool has Mickey.

The Calypso pool at ASMU has Donald Duck.

And the Surfs up pool at All Star Sports has giant surf boards.

Here are a few pool photos.

All Star Sports pool.

All Star Music Donald pool.

All Star Movies Mickey Pool.


----------------------------------------------------
Here are some photos of Pop from allearsnet.com:

Have fun wherever you choose to stay

 

[Duxy68]

Ive been to both pop and asmo. Next Aug we are going back to asmo . i think any one is good enough. Well will just take turns lol
pop one yr , asmo the next.

 

[julsmom]

I guess my curiousity was caused by the number of people on the boards staying at POP. I just wanted to know why.

 

[CathrynRose]

I guess my curiousity was caused by the number of people on the boards staying at POP. I just wanted to know why.

I like AS's - but POP is new'er, their food court (IMO) is bigger, nicer.

I honestly think the biggest reason is the "newness". ASMovies was ~THE~ place the stay, when doing Value, before POP came along.

Now that I see a couple music building's might be done before my Jan 25th stay - Im considering switching to one of those. But I dunno... Im a POP addict too.

And another thing that always annoyed me about the "values" pre-POP, was how FAR they were from everything. I felt like they stuffed all the "Poor Folk" waaaaaaay in the corner of the property. POP is at least a smidge closer.

But - in case I didnt make it clear....AS's are JUST as nice, and comfortable and everythign else. Theyre all great "values", no pun intended.

 

[boomhauer]

Sorry to confuse you, but I chose ASMovies, hands down. As you can see by my signature, I've stayed at both several times.

When Pop opened, I figured I'd give it a shot. I liked it the first time I stayed there. Theming was cool. Food court and shopping area was fun. We decided to stay there a 2nd time as my wife had yet to stay there. We both agreed at the end of the trip - Something had been missing. We knew right away, next trip would be ASMovies. There's a certain feeling of Disney you get at Movies that you don't get at Pop. That being said, I'll give you some of the other reasons I prefer Movies:

- Food court. The food is no better or worse. However, the way Pop is run is awful. The lines (due to the crowds) are way too heavy and you'll find yourself standing in long lines every time you go there.

- The bar at Movies is set up better and much friendlier. There's more space to move around.

- The gift shop at Movies is nicer and isn't connected with the food court, so doesn't get as congested.

- The buses at Movies, while don't run any more frequent than Pop, are less crowded. We found ourselves standing on the bus at Pop more often than not.

- As mentioned before, you can't beat the theming of All Star Movies. It feels so Disney to me.

- Location to Animal Kingdom and Blizzard Beach is spectacular.

 

[minnie61650]

.......
Now that I see a couple music building's might be done before my Jan 25th stay - Im considering switching to one of those. But I dunno... Im a POP addict too. ............

But - in case I didnt make it clear....AS's are JUST as nice, and comfortable and everythign else. Theyre all great "values", no pun intended.

I love the new rooms at All Star Music and the privacy curtain is a big plus also.

This is what mouseplanet.com says about the new rooms:

The standard rooms at buildings 3-8 at the All Star Music Resort has been postponed until after January 1. (Rooms in buildings 1, 2, 9 and 10 that have not been converted into suites are already done or being completed.) Rooms will be getting new furniture, drapes, coat racks, beds, and a privacy curtain on the vanity area. The rooms will have a more retro look.


Here is a photo I took of the privacy curtain:

Here are some photos of the refubished room that were taken by another DIS member:


http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1139297

Here are some pics from the redone rooms. Please excuse the lived in look and the three year old.

 

[chobie]

I like POp, but its mainly because its the first value we stayed it. My kids love the arcade and I think the food court is fine, but we never eat during busy hours.

Isn't ASMO's pool's under construction right now?

 

[Metallicat]

I have stayed at both and like POP better. when we stayed at the All Star movies and another time at All Star Sports, the bus picked up guests at both Resorts before it would head out to the parks.
I don't know if they still do that or not, but they did when I stayed there two different times.

The Bus to Pop only picked up Pop guests. plus, its closer to MGM and DTD.
(I rent a car and drive to these places sometimes)

I liked the food court much better at POP too.

plus, at certain times of the year, cheerleaders are everywhere at the All Stars. (for competitions) I find them to be loud and obnoxious, and their loud talking and yelling right outside my room late at night got on my nerves in the worst way.

 

[minnie61650]

I have stayed at both and like POP better. when we stayed at the All Star movies and another time at All Star Sports, the bus picked up guests at both Resorts before it would head out to the parks.
I don't know if they still do that or not, but they did when I stayed there two different times.

The Bus to Pop only picked up Pop guests. plus, its closer to MGM and DTD.
(I rent a car and drive to these places sometimes)

I liked the food court much better at POP too.

plus, at certain times of the year, cheerleaders are everywhere at the All Stars. (for competitions) I find them to be loud and obnoxious, and their loud talking and yelling right outside my room late at night got on my nerves in the worst way.

FYI

The Pop Warner cheerleaders also stayed at Pop in December 2004 so large school groups do stay at Pop also.

They certainly didn't take over the resort, but Pop definitely took some "spill over". So to say they won't at all effect Pop I think is false. We didn't use the Food Court in the AM, so that wasn't an issue. They were at the pool late night (being a little wild...I agree just kids being kids), after my kids were in bed, (I only saw them when I was doing laundry). Since their schedules keep them very busy at WWofS during the day, they were not a problem then. The only time they impacted my vacation was leaving the parks at night. If I can be truthful, the kids were fine; it was the chaperones...and I use that term very loosely. On 2 evenings, once at MK and once at Ep, we were waiting in line for the bus back. If there were a few of their group in line ahead they'd all cut and join them. One time the cheerleader basically said, "Mom, we can't stay up here. These people have been waiting." The mom ignored her. I am not talking about 2 or 3 people popping up to their family after a bathroom break. I am talking about groups of 10 or 12 just strolling ahead of 100 people in line. It was infuriating! Not only because it wasn't a fair thing to do, but because of the example it set for every single kid witnessing it. Mind you, I was with my DH and 3 princesses, plus 6 months pregnant at the time...

Sorry for the long story. However, I thought I should share my firsthand experience. Of course that was in 2004 and a lot could change. And I should say, I loved everything about Pop and probably would change when I go versus where I stay.

Good luck deciding.

we were at the POP for the pop warner/cheerleading week in 2004. the place was over run. you heard cheers until well past midnight. the food court was impossible to use. they were practicing their pyramids in the pool until late in the evening. i would opt for another hotel.

From this thread:

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?p=12120909#post12120909

I stayed at PC in December 2004. The Pop Warner kids were definitely there. I specifically chose PC since I had read in multiple places that PC was not equipped for large groups and that the Pop Warner kids would be at the All Stars only. That turned out to be untrue. For one night, it shouldn't be a problem, but if you want to avoid the Pop Warner kids, stay at CSR or a deluxe. Pop Warner has yet to announce what resorts are available this year, but in years past they have been at CBR, POR, and POFQ as well as the value resorts.

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A WORD ABOUT BUS SHARING

To me Bus Sharing at the All Stars is really a non issue.

In the mornings during Park opening hours each All Star usually has a dedicated bus.
During mid day it is usually just our stop and maybe one more on the way to the parks. On the way back sometimes it is all 3 but often Sports and Music share and Movies has it's own bus back. Each of the All Stars usually has it's own dedicated bus back from the MK.
That is a big plus. It seems like the Music bus stop usually has the shortest of the three All Star bus lines.

I guess some people who stay at POP see all 3 All Star names on the return sign of our bus stop when they head to the POP bus stop and think All Stars also has 3 stops on the way to the park.
(Even when we stop at another AS resort to load up it has not taken more than 5 minutes and we are on our way!)

 

[Metallicat]

I'll put it this way. I go to WDW alot. I've spent aprox 50-60 nights at the All Stars Resorts.
I've stayed at POP 30 nights. will be there 10 more next week.

In my expereince with the value Resorts and staying with them as much as we have, we have had a much better stay at POP. better sleep, etc..

I have stayed at POR Riverside 20 nights when I couldn't get a value Resort.
We like POP even better than POR just because of the food court.

As for the cheerleaders, they pick the All Stars FIRST. then they spill over to the other Resorts. they can be anywhere but the majority of them stay at the All Star Resorts. call WDW if you don't believe me. I did. they are the ones who told me so.

 

[blonde9567]

We just returned from a 7 nt stay at POP Century. This was our first time to stay inside Disney, so I don't have anything to compare it to, but to us it was WONDERFUL!!! We have 3 children (12, 9 and 6) and my parents went with us. We had rooms next to each other. I've heard some negative things about POP, but none of them applied to us. We arrived on Sat. (10/7) at 11:45 a.m. I waited maybe 2 min. for a CSR to check us in. It was very quick and our room was ready for us to check-in. We were in the 60's section, 3rd floor overlooking the kiddie pool. I've heard things about the noise at this resort but things were completely quiet in our room at all times. The bus service was excellent. I think we waited 10 min. for a bus on 2 occasions (out of 7 days, that's not bad...) It's a little more crowded in the evenings when you're leaving the parks (especially if you stay 'till it closes) but the few times we drove ourselves, it took just as long to get back to the parking lot and to our car. (waiting for a tram, etc...) Mousekeeping was great while we were there. The food court was very good....we only used it a couple of times....no long lines and the prices were pretty reasonable for Disney. All in all, we will never stay off site from Disney again. We can't wait to go back!! Hope this helps you with your decision. If I can answer any other questions, don't hesitate to ask.

 

[blonde9567]

We just returned from a 7 nt stay at POP Century. This was our first time to stay inside Disney, so I don't have anything to compare it to, but to us it was WONDERFUL!!! We have 3 children (12, 9 and 6) and my parents went with us. We had rooms next to each other. I've heard some negative things about POP, but none of them applied to us. We arrived on Sat. (10/7) at 11:45 a.m. I waited maybe 2 min. for a CSR to check us in. It was very quick and our room was ready for us to check-in. We were in the 60's section, 3rd floor overlooking the kiddie pool. I've heard things about the noise at this resort but things were completely quiet in our room at all times. The bus service was excellent. I think we waited 10 min. for a bus on 2 occasions (out of 7 days, that's not bad...) It's a little more crowded in the evenings when you're leaving the parks (especially if you stay 'till it closes) but the few times we drove ourselves, it took just as long to get back to the parking lot and to our car. (waiting for a tram, etc...) Mousekeeping was great while we were there. The food court was very good....we only used it a couple of times....no long lines and the prices were pretty reasonable for Disney. All in all, we will never stay off site from Disney again. We can't wait to go back!! Hope this helps you with your decision. If I can answer any other questions, don't hesitate to ask.

 

[splashmtnman]

We stayed at ASMo our first stay and we really enjoyed it. The kids loved the dalmations and the pool. i have to say we liked it better than CB. We are staying for one night on 11/27 at Pop before moving over to AKL 11/28-12/6 so we will let you know what we think. I don't think you could go wrong w/either resort though. For kids I think movies may be the best.

 

[catherines_mama]

POP! that's my vote over and over. We've done ASMO and POP and POP is by far my favorite. My DD5 votes for POP too, she loves it.

 

[karinbelle]

POP! We've stayed at ASMO and POP and love POP most of all. We had room 9401 (top floor, corner, 80's building - faced the pool).

Fairly close to elevator and parking lot.

DS loved to walk up the Rubick's cube.